Raiders vs. The Masters of Horror

[Raiders]

http://analogmedium.com/blog/2007/09/masters_horror.jpg

All 26 episodes, thirteen from each season, will be viewed via the Instant Viewing feature on Netflix and subsequently reviewed here. I'll be going in chronological order based on when the episode premiered.

So far:

Episode 1.1 - Don Coscarelli's Incident On and Off a Mountain Road (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=193583&postcount=27) - 6.5
Episode 1.2 - Stuart Gordon's Dreams in the Witch House (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=193857&postcount=32) - 8.0
Episode 1.3 - Tobe Hooper's Dance of the Dead (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=195887&postcount=36) - 2.5

[BuffaloWilder]

I do not envy you. You'll have to sit through Pelts.

[Bosco B Thug]

Excellent!


I do not envy you. You'll have to sit through Pelts. It is bad.

[MacGuffin]

I do not envy you. You'll have to sit through Pelts.

There's no problem with that.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I feel worse for the pain that is The V Word.

[MacGuffin]

It is bad.

Are you a fan of Dario Argento? Everyone hates The Stendhal Syndrome and I think it's one of his better movies, even if the CGI seems a little out of place and dated (I'm pretty sure the movie came out around the time CGI became popular, but don't quote me on that).

[Ezee E]

Eh. I've watched four of these, and none have really amounted to anything.

[EyesWideOpen]

Eh. I've watched four of these, and none have really amounted to anything.

I've watched like 12 and out of those maybe 2 were decent. 6 or 7 were absolutely wretched.

[Bosco B Thug]

Are you a fan of Dario Argento? Everyone hates The Stendhal Syndrome and I think it's one of his better movies, even if the CGI seems a little out of place and dated (I'm pretty sure the movie came out around the time CGI became popular, but don't quote me on that). I do like Argento. I wrote a short little appraisal of his career in the Horror thread not too long ago. I think his filmmaking is amazing, even if his films overall never quite reach the "masterpiece" level for me, although I'm sure at least one of them comes really close (not Suspiria).

Do people hate The Stendhal Syndrome? I thought it was pretty solid. I don't think I'd call it one of his better films, but I liked it.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I've watched like 12 and out of those maybe 2 were decent. 6 or 7 were absolutely wretched.

I don't think too many of them are wretched, but I prefer to look at the series as an experiment. I admire the principle of giving each director a small amount of money, a script they like, and letting them do their thing. Granted, there's a certain sameness to the films, as they're all produced and photographed by the same team, but Gordon, Carpenter, and Dante acquit themselves quite nicely, I think.

Although the series is ultimately somewhat disappointing, as few "masters" truly rise to the occasion, in future years I suspect we'll look at the series as one of the few truly mature American horror projects of the 00's.

[BuffaloWilder]

But these are all just schlock, though. Even "Cigarette Burns" which is probably the most ambitious of the ones I've seen, devolves into stupidity near the end.

[Dead & Messed Up]

But these are all just schlock, though. Even "Cigarette Burns" which is probably the most ambitious of the ones I've seen, devolves into stupidity near the end.

If you're implying that Udo Kier feeding his small intestine into a projector is stupid, then we, sir, are done.

[BuffaloWilder]

If you're implying that Udo Kier feeding his small intestine into a projector is stupid, then we, sir, are done.

It is. I mean, that's not really provoking any sort of reaction from me other than 'ew, that's kind of gross, I guess'.

I mean, where's the suspense? Whatever happened to the Night Gallery school of thought?

[Dead & Messed Up]

It is. I mean, that's not really provoking any sort of reaction from me other than 'ew, that's kind of gross, I guess'.

I mean, where's the suspense? Whatever happened to the Night Gallery school of thought?

See, here was my reaction to that moment:

Wait, that isn't his...holy shit, is that...he just put his fucking intestine in there!...the movie'll make you do that?...I mean, I heard so much about it but to see it...hah! Kier's still talking...oh Christ, this is so nuts!

I dunno. I'm awfully fond of that moment.

[BuffaloWilder]

See, here was my reaction to that moment:

Wait, that isn't his...holy shit, is that...he just put his fucking intestine in there!...the movie'll make you do that?...I mean, I heard so much about it but to see it...hah! Kier's still talking...oh Christ, this is so nuts!

I dunno. I'm awfully fond of that moment.

It reminded me of Hell Asylum, actually.

[Grouchy]

Yeah, that part of Cigarette Burns is hilariously crazy. And that's a good thing.

The best one out of all these is clearly Imprint.

[EyesWideOpen]

Yeah, that part of Cigarette Burns is hilariously crazy. And that's a good thing.

The best one out of all these is clearly Imprint.

Imprint is awful also and I'm a huge Miike fan.

[Dukefrukem]

I've never seen ANY of these but I want to badly. Can't wait.

[Ezee E]

Imprint is at least memorable.

[Ivan Drago]

How's the one from Joe Dante? I remember he made one a while back.

[Ezee E]

How's the one from Joe Dante? I remember he made one a while back.
Alright. Pure joe Dante though with some funny stuff in there at least. I just hate the acting.

[megladon8]

Looking forward to Raiders' thoughts. I'd really like to see the rest of the series myself.

Is it still being produced? IMDb has it listed as "2005-???", which usually means a series is still alive. But there haven't been any new episodes in nearly 2 years.

[Spun Lepton]

Looking forward to this.

I will second DaMU's condolences for having to sit through The V Word. I would also advise you seriously buckle down for Haeckel's Tale.

[Spun Lepton]

Looking forward to Raiders' thoughts. I'd really like to see the rest of the series myself.

Is it still being produced? IMDb has it listed as "2005-???", which usually means a series is still alive. But there haven't been any new episodes in nearly 2 years.

Pretty sure it's done.

[Dead & Messed Up]

How's the one from Joe Dante? I remember he made one a while back.

Homecoming was hilarious in its time, and still entertaining as a little zeitgeist picture of 2005. Screwfly Solution plays like a lower-budget Children of Men, but there's some awesome stuff in there. He, Landis, and Gordon are the only directors to make two quality episodes.

[MadMan]

The Screwfly Solution is the only one I've seen, and it is indeed quite solid. I'm only interested in seeing the ones from the directors like Dante, Carpenter, Gordon, Argento, etc. I have no desire to watch every single one of them. Still I'll be following this thread with interest.

[Raiders]

Incident On and Off a Mountain Road
Director: Don Coscarelli

http://www.dvdtalk.com/images/dc6.jpg

The inaugural episode into the Masters of Horror project is a nicely atmospheric entry into Coscarelli's canon; a rather standard genre fare with some dashes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Jeepers Creepers and other such films thrown in. At the center is a young woman who veers off the road (driving alone late at night, natch) and becomes stranded in the wilderness and in the company of a hulking monster nicknamed Moonface. It is here the film becomes two divergent tales with intermittent flashbacks to Ellen and her cynical and survivalist boyfriend/husband Bruce. We see them meet, fall in love and his increasing and abusive efforts to "train" her to fight the inevitable day the world becomes overrun by "mud men."

The trick the film pulls is that it uses Bruce's harsh teachings to equip Ellen for the scenario, thus turning the tables on Moonface and the audience alike. There is a particularly effective moment where a plan of hers goes wrong but the look of almost disbelief on Moonface is practically hilarious. Angus Scrimm shows up mid film as a crazed old captive of Moonface (I couldn't tell if the film wanted him to be a relative or not) and provides likely the film's creepiest moments. Coscarelli has a couple squirmers in there, but on the fear factor the film fails to really deliver. Perhaps the empowerment of Ellen makes the playing field more even, thus it seems more like a match than a hunter/huntee. Equally disappointing is the film's insistence on its flashback structure where it is both underdeveloped (that she even likes Bruce, let alone marries him is ridiculous) and uneasily gives credence to Bruce's tactics via the female empowered survivalist methods Ellen uses against Moonface.

The final switch and twist felt expected and standard and unfortunately for the short film rather unsubstantiated. I suppose Coscarelli uses the ending as a final resting place for the radical tactics of Bruce transferred into Ellen, the evil of both Moonface and Bruce rolled into one. But for a character who not more than ten minutes before was still screaming over every dead body she saw, I think a little less cleverness may have been in the cards. Still, it's a reasonably effective entry and it certainly delivers some inspired moonlit photography which makes the film feel a little like a fairytale, and in coupling with the creepy survivalist bent, perhaps a cautionary tale as well.

Rating: 6.5

[megladon8]

Nicely written, Raiders.

I'd like to re-watch this one. There were aspects I loved, as well as aspects I found lazy and uninspired. It's a case where I felt a full-length feature probably would have done the material better justice.

[Raiders]

It's a case where I felt a full-length feature probably would have done the material better justice.

This is most certainly the case. A greater development of her abusive relationship could have given an almost completely different and deeper parallel and vibe to her defiance of Moonface.

[megladon8]

And I was also struck by the same questions as you - why is she with him? Not just why did she stay with him, but why did she bother with him in the first place? If I remember correctly, while he wasn't in full-out abusive psycho mode from the beginning, he was still a very odd guy, and it's not like he was gorgeous and that could possible justify her putting up with his being odd.

I just didn't understand how the relationship evolved in the first place.

[Dead & Messed Up]

And I was also struck by the same questions as you - why is she with him? Not just why did she stay with him, but why did she bother with him in the first place? If I remember correctly, while he wasn't in full-out abusive psycho mode from the beginning, he was still a very odd guy, and it's not like he was gorgeous and that could possible justify her putting up with his being odd.

I just didn't understand how the relationship evolved in the first place.

I bought it mostly because of my understanding of how most women prefer men with an edge, a sense of danger, that perceived "bad boy" quality. Clearly she had misgivings. Was that enough to excuse how abusive he became?

The only time he's physically abusive is when he rapes her, and she responds by, uh, killing him. The rest is verbal, and he's an imposing enough guy that her co-dependence is understandable.

On a different note, that Bree Turner's a charming young woman with some real talent.

[Raiders]

Dreams in the Witch House
Director: Stuart Gordon

http://media.monstersandcritics.com/articles/1151736/article_images/5031homepage.jpg

Well, after the disappointing lack of horror or scares from Incident On and Off a Mountain Road, Stuart Gordon's return to the land of Lovecraft is a brilliantly twisted and macabre tale. The story focuses on Walter, a college student who rents a room at an old, crummy house to find some solitude to work on his thesis concerning string theory. Immediately with the opening pan away from the rent sign to the dilapidated house, Gordon uses his plain and sparse aesthetic to heighten the surface normalcy, the unease reflected in the gray reality. The film, as Lovecraft was wont to do, interestingly takes Walter's science and rationality as a basis for its magical horror. Walter notices that the ceiling and wall convergence in the corner of his room matches exactly the theory he is working on to explain the parallel dimensions of our universe. In a way, Walter's work may be confined to theoretical science, but Gordon and Lovecraft portend that our universe is vicariously fragile and we are surrounded by evil lurking from not only behind the door, but behind the alternate dimension.

The story seems rather slight and the introduction of a character with knowledge and experience with the witch is a little disappointing, particularly in light of his narrative uselessness. As the film progresses, Gordon goes full on into the macabre, walking the line between schlock and intense terror. The film doesn't quite reach the Grand Guignol heights of Re-Animator, but Gordon is still able to stage a few gloriously heightened and bloodily disturbing scenes where the witch takes over Walter's mind and body. The finale in the house is particularly effective, mixing the intense efforts of Walter to break free of the witch and the stifling interiors the house represents. In the end, that seems to be the film's final reverie. As our science continues to attempt to expand our understanding of the universe, we are bound to find secrets and horrors our current minds cannot comprehend.

Rating: 8.0

[megladon8]

Another great write-up, Raiders.

Again, I agree. I need to rewatch these episodes.

But I do remember the shocking events occurring in the final half of the episode, which really did turn the bit of "schlock value" the episode had going for it right on its head.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Love it when a story plays for keeps, and when

Walter holds the dead baby in his hands

that's fricking keeps.

[Bosco B Thug]

I probably come off too harshly on this episode. It's a solidly made episode by Gordon that probably just didn't provide the outre plot and absurdity that I'd come to expect from the MoH episodes I really lapped up.

I remember liking the ending, how we get away from the house and the implications of it all widen.

[Raiders]

Dance of the Dead
Director: Tobe Hooper

http://www.videowatchdog.com/watchblog/uploaded_images/dance6-732264.jpg

It is difficult nowadays to view the films of the man who made, in 1974, one of the towering works of not just horror films but of visceral, gut-wrenching, surreal cinema. There, Hooper's film tapped into the changing tide of American horror cinema from the ghastly to the bloody, from the supernatural to the deranged. Since though, Hooper has wavered through a career of mediocrity and here, he gives us a truly woeful tale of... well, nothing really. The film is purportedly about a near-future society where something has happened and a plague has swept across the country, killing millions and creating a dilapidated set of insulated communities. The worst of these is the town of Muskeet, a ghetto surrounding a club where the central show is reanimated corpses being forced to dance via cattle prods. The MC of the club is Robert Englund, hamming it up as he is wont to do. It's a grimy, ugly place made even worse by Hooper's complete inability to do anything remotely interesting with the locale, neither sexing or raunching it up, content to simply let the place stand as is; gloomy and incomprehensible.

The story centers around a girl from a town a little distance away from Muskeet who is attracted to a hoodlum who, along with his friend and his friend's bimbo, procure the blood of the elderly for Englund's club to use in reanimating the dead corpses central to the success of the club. What actually destroyed this world is left entirely unexplained except that it came in the form of black clouds and raining ash. The flashbacks to this are just inexplicable as is pretty much everything else in this pathetic film. What rush and need is satsified by the dancing in the club as the patrons look on in lust at the dead dancers (the film makes it explicit that they almost need it, but to what end)? Just what the hell is "bliss," as the apocalyptic cloud/plague is known? What the hell is Englund creating with the blood that reanimates the corpses? Why is the "dance of the dead" so dull and unexotic? Why the fuck does Hooper feel it necessary to use the same lame, quick-blur cinematic camera trick about 75 times even when it seems completely superfluous to the action on screen?

Most importantly, why the hell did I even finish this utterly useless and shitty piece of film? Yuck.

Rating: 2.5

[Spun Lepton]

Hooper frustrates the hell out of me.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Yep, it's pretty goddamn terrible. Frankly, I've never much been on the Hooper-as-artiste bandwagon, and this episode did absolutely nothing to change my mind.

[Spun Lepton]

Yep, it's pretty goddamn terrible. Frankly, I've never much been on the Hooper-as-artiste bandwagon, and this episode did absolutely nothing to change my mind.

There's a bandwagon for that?

[Dead & Messed Up]

There's a bandwagon for that?

I know that there are some posters on this forum, and one of my favorite current filmmakers - Kiyoshi Kurosawa - adores Hooper.

:confused:

[Rowland]

I haven't seen many of Hooper's pictures, but I've only outright disliked one (TCM2). Otherwise, the original TCM is a masterpiece, The Funhouse is very good, Poltergeist and Lifeforce are a lot of fun, and even his recent Toolbox Murders is passable as slashers are concerned.

[Raiders]

My comment of his mediocrity is based more on reputation as I have seen very few of his films (and I consider Poltergeist more indicative of Spielberg than Hooper). I am actually quite the fan of Lifeforce. But I have seen TCM many times and it only grows in my esteem each time.

[Rowland]

My comment of his mediocrity is based more on reputation as I have seen very few of his films (and I consider Poltergeist more indicative of Spielberg than Hooper). I am actually quite the fan of Lifeforce. But I have seen TCM many times and it only grows in my esteem each time.Check out The Funhouse, it's no masterpiece but certainly mid-upper tier on the '80s horror scale.

[Bosco B Thug]

Hooper's talents and [lacking] sophistication are [thus] not at a level enough to save Dance of the Dead from its awfulness - the horrendous editing, that effing flash-blur effect, Hooper's failure to take control of the shapeless messiness and gracelessness of 75% of the thing, those awful flashback sequences, and the nonsense that is the story and teleplay in the first place - but his talents are there, so I don't think Dance of the Dead is useless.

I thought it had its fair share of captivating imagery and strong artistic conceptualizations, particularly the teens' night ride and the odd-but-occasional moments of control to be found in club scenes (most found in the final one, when the main girl has been brought to it).

Lifeforce thoughts soon in the horror thread.

[Grouchy]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre - 9
Lifeforce - 5
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 - 8
Toolbox Murders - 6
Dance of the Dead - 5

[Boner M]

Don't forget Spontaneous Combustion as evidence of Hooper's curious decline. That movie is liquid terrible.

[D_Davis]

Dance of the Dead feels and looks like a wet dream of a Hot Topic employee/NIN groupie circa 1994.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Dance of the Dead feels and looks like a wet dream of a Hot Topic employee/NIN groupie circa 1994.

Yeah. Terrible.

[Bosco B Thug]

Don't forget Spontaneous Combustion as evidence of Hooper's curious decline. That movie is liquid terrible.
I've come to regard Spontaneous Combustion as one of his most under-appreciated films.

And as sketchy as Dance of the Dead turned out, I admire it as a disproportionately ambitious episode, visually and in its dramatic earnestness without the cheekiness of other episodes.

[Spun Lepton]

Come on, Raiders, let's get on with it. :D

[Raiders]

Come on, Raiders, let's get on with it. :D

I already watched Jenifer, I've just been too busy to review it.

[EyesWideOpen]

I already watched Jenifer, I've just been too busy to review it.

Man, I hated that movie.

[EvilShoe]

Man, I hated that movie.
The whole series was kind of a waste, I thought.
Some good episodes, but not enough to save it.

[Spun Lepton]

The whole series was kind of a waste, I thought.
Some good episodes, but not enough to save it.

First season had more ups than downs.
Second season had more downs than ups.

[Raiders]

Jenifer
Director: Dario Argento

http://media.monstersandcritics.com/articles/1190277/article_images/spiveysreflectioninaghoulishey e.jpg

Throughout his career, Argento has displayed a fascination with sight and perception and here in his first Masters of Horror episode, he inherits a story itself fascinated with the physical allure of a monster; a creature both sexual and repulsive. Adapted by and starring Steven Weber as a police officer who stumbles upon a crazed middle-aged man about to hatchet up the titular Jenifer, shoots the man and "inherits" the affections of Jenifer, a (young?) woman with a disfigured face and a great rack. Most people can predict where the story goes from here and it is certainly to the film's discredit that within minutes we are none too surprised by anything that really happens. But Argento is a master filmmaker regardless of what he has been doing over the past 10 or 15 years and he smartly plays up (way up) the film's sexual and erotic aspects. Argento turns the typical attraction between a victim and her savior into a disturbing and graphic tale and the unemotive visage of Jenifer allows doubt to linger over her nature as an unwitting creature or a wimpering and vindictive sultress. Argento challenges the audience to not be aroused by Jenifer (note how interestingly her face is tpyically obscured by her hair during the pivotal sex scenes).

Ultimately there is not much to the tale and a lot of it seems pretty standard men-as-pigs finger-wagging (he can't see past her boobs, etc.), but Argento is sly enough to provide the film a sensual overcurrent which segues into creating a disturbing and uneasy atmosphere. The film is also, to its credit I think, rather comical and seemingly never 100% serious (I'm assuming I was meant to laugh at some of the reveals of Jenifer's poor victims). It is probable Argento may never again reach the heights he found in the 70s and 80s, but there is still enough in the tank to make this rote tale moderatly interesting and entertaining.

Rating: 7.0

[megladon8]

Excellent, Raiders!

I liked this one as well. I'd probably also give it a 7 (maybe 6.5).

It's a solid entry, and probably the best thing Argento has done in quite some time.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I should rewatch this at some point - I remember thinking it one degree above a softcore porn.

[Rowland]

Hopefully you'll keep this up. I'll probably be watching several more of these as well, given the Holiday season and the fact that they're available for instant viewing through Netflix. It appears I'm the first person around here to find Cigarette Burns sub-standard.

[Raiders]

I took a break for a while, but yeah, I'll be kicking this back into drive this weekend.